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The sociologist responded to the charge that her new theory was __________ by pointing out that it did not in fact contradict accepted sociological principles.

a)banal b)heretical c)unproven d)complex e)superficial

 

People should not be praised for their virtue if they lack the energy to be_________; in such cases, goodness is merely the effect of __________.

a)depraved..hesitation

b)cruel..effortlessness

c)wicked..indolence

d)unjust..boredom

e)iniquitous..impiety

No longer________ by the belief that the world around us was expressly designed for humanity, many people try to find intellectual_______ for that lost certainty in astrology and in mysticism.a)satisfied..reasons

b)sustained..substitutes

c)reassured..justifications

d)hampered..equivalents

e)restricted..paralles

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Hi, there. I'm happy to help with these. :)

 

1) The sociologist responded to the charge that her new theory was __________ by pointing out that it did not in fact contradict accepted sociological principles.

a) banal

b) heretical

c) unproven

d) complex

e) superficial

 

The sociologist needed to defend herself by saying her theory didn't contradict accepted principles, so the charge must have been that her theory did contradict accepted principles. The only word that that means anything like "contradicting accepted principles" is (b) heretical. That's a very strong work which connotes attacking & contradicting what was most precious in the previous accepted order.

 

 

2) People should not be praised for their virtue if they lack the energy to be_________; in such cases, goodness is merely the effect of __________.

a) depraved..hesitation

b) cruel..effortlessness

c) wicked..indolence

d) unjust..boredom

e) iniquitous..impiety

 

The first blank could be any word that means "bad" --- really, any of the five answer choices would work for the first word.

 

The key to this is the second blank. These folks are virtuous because they lack the energy to be bad people. What seems like virtue is just a by-product of lack of energy, of inertia, of not wanting to get off their lazy butts to do anything at all. Lack of energy, inertia, laziness -- the word with all those connotations is © indolence. Choice (a) "hesitation" implies the lack of action is due to an intellectual quandary rather than a lack of energy/effort. Choice (b) "effortlessness" is actually a word we use for folks who are so skilled at their action that it looks like the results occur as if by magic; for example, Yo-Yo Ma plays the cello with effortlessness. It is definitely not a word that means anything like laziness. Choice (d) "boredom" often goes along with lack of energy & laziness, but technically is not the same as laziness; one can easily be bored and restless -- that is, have a lot of energy and nowhere to direct it. That's not the case with the folks here. Choice (e) is right out --- it's almost impossible to imagine how goodness could result from "impiety." Of these answers, © wicked . . . indolence is by far the best.

 

 

3) No longer________ by the belief that the world around us was expressly designed for humanity, many people try to find intellectual_______ for that lost certainty in astrology and in mysticism.

a) satisfied..reasons

b) sustained..substitutes

c) reassured..justifications

d) hampered..equivalents

e) restricted..parallels

 

The first blank has to be a happy word --- folks had the happiness of a happy belief, and now that we've lost that happiness, we need the comfort of astrology and mysticism. Choice (a) & (b) & © all work for the first blank --- satisfied & sustained & reassured -- are all happy things a belief can do to one. The last two, "hampered" and "restricted", are negative words that don't fit the context. The belief was a happy thing that ended.

 

The second blank is tricky --- "intellectual reasons", "intellectual substitutes", and "intellectual justifications" are all phrase that ring familiar --- none of those are wrong idiomatically. What's crucial is what follows the blank --- "for that lost certainty". If the belief was a happy thing, then losing the certainty was a big yucky unhappiness. We don't want reasons for the lost certainty, nor do we want justifications for the lost certainty --- providing an intellectual framework for it is in no way going to take away the fundamental unhappiness here, and providing this framework is not what "mysticism and astrology" do anyway. The only thing that will take away the unhappiness would be to plug something else into that existential slot --- we want "intellectual substitutes" for that lost certainty, and the passage is suggesting that "mysticism and astrology" are what humans use to plug that hole. We lost the certainty, and where the uncertainty was, we plug in astrology and mysticism -- that is to say, we use them as substitutes.

 

That's why (b) sustained . . . substitutes, is the best answer,.

 

Does all that make sense? Please let me know if you have any questions on this.

 

Mike :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Charlotte Salomon's biography is a reminder that the currents of private life, however diverted, dislodged, or twisted by____________ public events, retain their hold on the _________ recording them.

a)transitory..culture

b)dramatic..majority

c)overpowering..individual

d)conventional..audience

e)relentless..institution

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Hi, there. I'm happy to help. :)

 

The question:

Charlotte Salomon's biography is a reminder that the currents of private life, however diverted, dislodged, or twisted by____________ public events, retain their hold on the _________ recording them.

a)transitory..culture

b)dramatic..majority

c)overpowering..individual

d)conventional..audience

e)relentless..institution

 

It's easy to imagine several possibilities for the first blank. This is an interesting Sentence Completion question, insofar as I believe the second blank really is quite decisive. Consider this shortened version . . . .

 

The currents of private life retain their hold on the _________ recording them.

Well, the currents of private life --- the emotionally impactful things that happen to you or me in our most private and intimate spaces in life --- say, a troubling dream about a lover or coworker, something like that ----- If I have that troubling dream, that will have a hold on me, and maybe even on the one or two people with whom I share it, but it's not going to have a hold on a (A) culture, a (B) majority, a (D) audience, or an (E) institution. It's just the nature of the emotionally powerful things that happen in our private lives --- we don't go running to the newspapers to broadcast that stuff. It simply doesn't make sense for the second blank in the question to be anything involving a large number of people --- people don't share their private lives with large numbers of people. Therefore, the only word that works in the second blank is © "individual". Then, the completed sentence is:

 

Charlotte Salomon's biography is a reminder that the currents of private life, however diverted, dislodged, or twisted by overpowering public events, retain their hold on the individual recording them.

The word "overpowering" to describe the "public events" is a contrast to the powerful currents of private life. This sentence works well. The answer is ©.

 

Does that make sense? Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

Mike :)

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